Bubbles by Emma.Ge

[raw]
made by Emma.Ge for Ludum Dare 54 (JAM)

Have you ever imagined a day when fish will rule over humans, keeping them as their pets? In this game, you'll play as the little fish, Mob, trying to survive in a human city filled with hatred towards fish. The bubbles you blow will be your only space for survival, use them to create a path and escape from the human city. Meanwhile, be careful not to let humans discover your true identity, the consequences, if found out, would be unimaginable!

【W/A/S/D】 move

【J】 blow bubbles

【SPACE】 self-save + beat the rhythm

【R】 restart

【P】 skip the animation

-Blow bubbles to create an escape route.

-Players can blow a maximum of six bubbles at the same time.

-Players can move through the bubbles.

-Bubbles will gradually fall.

-Bubbles will burst three seconds after they appear, requiring the player to promptly blow the next bubble.

-If players are exposed in the air, they need to click the [space] three times within two seconds to blow a bubble and respawn. Otherwise, the game ends.

❗️❗️❗️Updated Tutorial Guide:

Many people have expressed that they do not quite understand our game mechanics. Due to time constraints, we may not be able to make further modifications to the game. We can only provide a relatively comprehensive tutorial guide here, hoping to offer some assistance to our players.

【First Level】 Press [J] to blow bubbles in the direction you want to proceed, providing space for movement. If you encounter places that are impassable, it might be due to obstructing buildings, try changing your direction! PS: Sometimes, returning to the starting point and embarking in a new direction is a good choice.

【Second Level】 When NPCs pose questions, press [Space] to give the correct answer when the little fish passes through a diagonal box. Incorrect answers will cause humans to discover that you're a fish, leading to death. Meanwhile, don't forget to use bubbles to sustain your life.

【Third Level】 Avoid food falling from above, as they will burst your bubbles and cause you to suffocate. If you are hit again while in a state of suffocation, you will die instantly. PS: KEEP GOING UP!

Intro video: https://youtu.be/ngnRlea4rQU

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We hope everyone can fully experience our game, and there's a carefully crafted ending video after the game ends. In order to allow those who are unable to play the game or have difficulty completing it to also see our ending video, we will list it separately here:

https://youtu.be/0LeDGAhRXjc

Ratings

Overall 952th 3.093⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1036th 2.72⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 586th 3.333⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 801th 3.278⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 372th 3.926⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 286th 3.673⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 374th 3.288⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 582th 3.5⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

Aesaire
04. Oct 2023 · 05:47 UTC
The story was one of the most unique ones I've come across this jam. My one request would be to cut down pressing space bar three times to one time, it felt a little repetitive to do every time I had to save myself. Loved the art and music, it really gave the impression of a living world full of character.
kasmilus
04. Oct 2023 · 12:07 UTC
The story is quite cute but I couldn't get past first stage? Looks like every way is blocked.
Peco
05. Oct 2023 · 04:19 UTC
Hmmm it's so hard to get around and progress, i didn't get far :(
Robert Li
05. Oct 2023 · 04:39 UTC
The cutscenes in the beginning is very cute! and the VO is adorable. but the game play. I think I understand that I need to press spacebar 3 times to make bubbles, but I don't seem to get how I could utilize that to traverse through the fish tanks. Let me know if that's improved! I will give it another shot!
benisu
05. Oct 2023 · 05:41 UTC
really good concept! creating your own path using a limited resource of limited space! love it! however, i think the execution needs a bit more work, such as making it more clear which paths are blocked or not. and i seem to be having similar issues with @kasmilus where i can't get past the first stage...
Nanamaki
05. Oct 2023 · 06:47 UTC
I love the art, the story(very interesting setting and enlightening), and the dubing. But the stage is quite a maze and counterintuitive. The bubble machanism also make it a bit anonying to move around. And the overlap function of space to self save and beat the ryhthm sometimes conflicts when I have to wait to the right time to beat the rhythm so miss the time to self save. I really appeciate the art in the screen shots and the splendid scenes, so I make it to the second stage, but it is a little hard for me to continue playing :(
Blue Pin Studio
05. Oct 2023 · 07:46 UTC
The cutscenes were very nice but the gameplay was lacking. I couldn't get out of the first level, i went everywhere and died maybe 100 times.
🎤 Emma.Ge
08. Oct 2023 · 09:47 UTC
@kasmilus
Thank you for your appreciation of our story, and for the questions you've raised. We will make some changes to the guidance for the first level. We look forward to you playing our game again!
🎤 Emma.Ge
08. Oct 2023 · 09:47 UTC
@peco Using bubble movement is an innovative game setting we've created to align with the theme. We apologize if this has caused you any confusion. We greatly appreciate you playing our game!
🎤 Emma.Ge
08. Oct 2023 · 09:48 UTC
@robert-li Thank you so much for your appreciation of our opening animation! However, based on your comment, I'm not sure if our explanation of the game mechanics was clear. In the game, players should blow bubbles and move within them by pressing the [J] key, while the triple [space] action should be used for self-rescue after suffocation. Besides, we will lower the game's difficulty to some extent and provide more explicit guidance. We look forward to you playing our game again!
🎤 Emma.Ge
08. Oct 2023 · 09:52 UTC
@benisu We apologize for not providing clear and sufficient game guidance, resulting in your inability to pass the first level. We will promptly make modifications based on your feedback. We hope you will play our game again!
🎤 Emma.Ge
08. Oct 2023 · 09:52 UTC
@nanamaki Thank you for your love for our game! The combination of maintaining life with bubbles while playing a rhythm game is a new attempt by us. To enable more people to pass the second level, we have adjusted the difficulty of the second level and subsequent games. We hope you will play our game again!
🎤 Emma.Ge
08. Oct 2023 · 09:52 UTC
@blue-pin-studio We are sorry that our gameplay has caused you confusion, and we appreciate your patient attempts. We will update our game guidance as soon as possible, and we hope you will give our game another try!
Kazuma
17. Oct 2023 · 19:59 UTC
Wow, this game is good.
LDJam user 4886
18. Oct 2023 · 09:17 UTC
What is the need for pressing space three times if you can create also bubbles with J and move inside them? That would make playing smoother! :D

At some point (next to a LGBTI flag) I got stuck and couldn't move forward, but I found it intriguing! Well done.
LDJam user 206001
18. Oct 2023 · 18:45 UTC
If I step outside the bubble it dies instantly, there is no time to return to the bubble, it gets stuck and asks to restart with R. I couldn't leave the starting point, not very far. If I go a little higher I die, it's not clear where I can go at the beginning before blowing the bubble, I don't know where the limit is.
TomatoLamp
19. Oct 2023 · 04:44 UTC
It definitely could benefit from an in-game tutorial - it seems like most of us immediately leave the bubble and see the "press space 3 times message" and get confused thinking that's how you should survive. Once I got used to pressing "J" to make my path, it was a lot more fun to move around. Maybe pressing "J" with no direction could create a bubble on top of you and eliminate the need for the spacebar mechanic completely?

I think the way you incorporated the theme into the story and gameplay is very well done and the artwork is incredible. A really intriguing entry that I fear will be missed by some due to a rough start.
minjutin
19. Oct 2023 · 06:54 UTC
Graphics are so beatiful tbh, and the game is so fun! And I almost missed this piece of creativity. To agree with other comments, the gameplay was quite hard and confusing in some points, I died so many times when trying to convince npc's. A very good idea. && It's impressive that you managed to implement multiple levels with consistent narrative
ScaryTreeGames
19. Oct 2023 · 07:12 UTC
This game has a pleasant atmosphere and unusual fun gameplay!
LDJam user 375578
19. Oct 2023 · 07:18 UTC
Let's good , there's still a little bit left
🎤 Emma.Ge
19. Oct 2023 · 13:55 UTC
❗️❗️❗️Updated Tutorial Guide:

Many people have expressed that they do not quite understand our game mechanics. Due to time constraints, we may not be able to make further modifications to the game. We can only provide a relatively comprehensive tutorial guide here, hoping to offer some assistance to our players.

【First Level】 Press [J] to blow bubbles in the direction you want to proceed, providing space for movement. If you encounter places that are impassable, it might be due to obstructing buildings, try changing your direction! PS: Sometimes, returning to the starting point and embarking in a new direction is a good choice.

【Second Level】 When NPCs pose questions, press [Space] to give the correct answer when the little fish passes through a diagonal box. Incorrect answers will cause humans to discover that you’re a fish, leading to death. Meanwhile, don’t forget to use bubbles to sustain your life.

【Third Level】 Avoid food falling from above, as they will burst your bubbles and cause you to suffocate. If you are hit again while in a state of suffocation, you will die instantly. PS: KEEP GOING UP!
Aio
19. Oct 2023 · 14:16 UTC
Very good pixel wind game. The concept is also very unique. I hope the obstacles can look more intuitive.
🎤 Emma.Ge
20. Oct 2023 · 06:45 UTC
@scarytreegames Thank you for playing and experiencing our game~~~
🎤 Emma.Ge
20. Oct 2023 · 06:48 UTC
@notnasiul We're sorry that our bubble creation mechanism has caused you trouble, and the occlusion issues in some scenes may have made you feel uncomfortable. However, we're grateful for your earnest play of our game and your dedicated exploration of the small designs in our map.
🎤 Emma.Ge
20. Oct 2023 · 06:53 UTC
@lincolnsalles Based on your description, it seems that there might have been some minor issues with our code execution, for which we deeply apologize. If you're willing to give it another try, you can attempt to maintain the bubble and move by continuously pressing the 'J' key during the movement process. Lastly, we sincerely apologize for not providing you with a satisfactory gaming experience.
🎤 Emma.Ge
20. Oct 2023 · 06:55 UTC
@tomatolamp Thank you very much for your suggestions, which I find very sensible. After receiving gameplay feedback from some players, we indeed realized that most people can't understand the way our game is played. I believe that if we have time to make modifications, your suggestions will be very effective. Additionally, thank you so much for your appreciation of our theme and artwork. Thanks again!